Live: 'Dexter' panel at Comic-Con

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief

Published: July 13 2012 | 01:54

Last updated: February 9 2021 | 01:41

Read our live blog of the Comic-Con panel for dark drama Dexter.

Finally today we have a panel for a show that isn't brand new: Dexter!

The last season concluded with a cliffhanger that finally delivered on the slow six-year tease as in the dying seconds, Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) discovered that her brother Dexter (Michael C Hall) was a serial killer. Eeep!

What happens next will dominate this panel for the upcoming seventh season, and how the show will build towards its eighth - and ultimately final - season next year.

Note that all times in this live blog are Pacific, which is eight hours behind UK time and three hours behind East Coast.

7.05pmAnd that's a wrap on the Dexter panel and indeed today's coverage of Comic-Con. Thanks for joining me - see you tomorrow!

7.04pmHall: "One time I ran the Slice of Life into a pier. $8000 of damage. I didn't have to pay."

7.03pmFinal audience question. Embarrassing moments or scenes. Carpenter: "In the first season, the pieces of the dead bodies were wrapped up on the ice. All day I was thinking I was going to laugh so hard when somebody falls. Then it was me. That was probably my most embarrassing thing."

7.02pmStill getting excited doing the show? Hall: "Excited, nervous. Perplexed. Yeah."

7.01pmFavourite season and why? Hall: "The one we're doing right now, cos that's all there is baby."

7.01pmDoes Carpenter swear now more? "I did yesterday, I stopped myself. When we're in the middle of shooting I drop an F-bomb like it's nothing. I need to rein it back in. I've done it twice in this panel!"

7.00pmWorst lie ever told? Hall: "Like, 'that was delicious'." Carpenter hangs her head.

6.59pmWhy Strahovski for Hannah? Buck: "She's got a mysterious quality about her. She might seem like a likeable girl..."

6.59pmWhy did she choose to do Dexter? Strahovski: "I had a chat and it took me a second to decide it's a great thing to do. You guys are awesome on it and the writing's amazing."

6.57pmBackstory behind the brown long-sleeved kill shirt? Hall: "There's no official backstory, but I imagine he must buy them in bulk."

6.56pmEver get disturbing letters? Hall: "No. I sort of regret that I don't have more creepy [fans]." West: "We get a lot of messages from bail bondsmen. Piles of that. It's weird."

6.55pmReaction on the street? Hall: "People seem to recognise that it's a television show. If they take the time to say something they usually have something positive to say. Some people are like 'I have some people I want you to kill'. But yeah, it's usually pretty good."

6.53pmWest: "It's always fun to do a kill scene. It's always fun to watch it, always fun to see it. It's fun to see how far Jen can go with her cursing."

6.51pmHow did they come up with Masuka? West: "He's such a pleasure to write for. You look forward to those scenes to give him. He's a revelation every time. We're learning more bits about his personal life, such as it is."

6.49pmFavourite guest stars? Hall: "I was a big fan of the artist formerly known as Mos Def, but certainly John Lithgow. On the first day of shooting with him I thought 'wow, I've really arrived somewhere'."

6.48pmAudience member with blue hair - what a loon! - compliments the actors then asks Hall how he gets into the Dexter mindset. "I think if you do something this long, you know it on a cellular level and you have to get out of its way. The entry and exit are a little more efficient, I hope, and rapid."

6.47pmStrahovski: "They pretty much told me what would happen with my character [for the season]."

6.46pmHow does Chuck compare? Strahovski: "It's a little different, in general the energy on the sets. There was a lot of loud characters on Chuck, and it's a different energy here. Mind you I've only spent several days so far on this one. It's very welcoming, it's not so crazy, song-and-dancey... it's better. I'll just say, Dexter is better."

6.45pmMost satisfying kill on the show? Hall: "The biggest prize would have to be Trinity, because at that point he was the most prolific killer Dexter had ever killed. I've said it before though, they're like my children. I love them all."

6.44pmHall: "Dexter's powers of denial are very strong, but he would be hard-pressed to argue that being a serial killer isn't an ideal proposition for a parent."

6.43pmHow will Daddy Dexter evolve? Hall: "As Harrison gets older, becomes more receptive, it becomes a dicier proposition every day. Also with Deb he has someone who is encouraging to him to face what he is trying to pull off as a parent."

6.43pmHall reminds Carpenter there are kids in the audience.

6.42pmHow will Dex and Deb evolve in S7? Carpenter: "This is the first year where I have felt lost. There's no compass. I've never moved with such uncertainty through every line, through every fucking bad word. So in a weird way, the tables have turned. Dexter's the one that moves with certainty and I'm the one that's trapped in my fucking head."

6.41pmWill Harry be in next season? Buck: "He will. We'll actually see original flashbacks from when he was a child but also in Dexter's current line."

6.40pmWhy do people love Dexter so much? Hall: "I think there a lot of different ways in which the show appeals to people. For me, I think we all have some sort of shadow side that we have to manage. His is pretty heavy, so maybe we admire him [for it]."

6.38pmHow does it feel to play such a beloved character? Hall: "It feels amazing. Of all the things that we do as publicity goes, this is the most gratifying. You guys are here because you like the show, but not because someone made you come. I'm almost disinclined to go there - it's overwhelming to think how many people project their world onto this character. I'm thrilled the character is one that allows people to project their fears, hopes, dreams, fascinations on. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to play this part."

6.38pmOverreaching theme in S7? Buck: "it's the simplest theme of all, which is what are the consequences of love? You've seen it in a million movies and shows, but now it's told through Dexter."

6.37pmMore growth for Deb in S7? "I think if anything she's.. it's not that she's shying away from her authority, she actually needs it. It's the one card she has to play. Any second, if I love after what we just saw, I could tell someone to put cuffs on him and I think he knows this. We're fish swimming [around each other] for a little while."

6.36pmCarpenter: "I've learned a lot from [Deb]. To get to the lessons faster. Hopefully we're sort of going different ways now but I'm still learning a lot for it."

6.35pmHall: "Dexter is a lot more fastidious than I am. It's a tricky thing to play a character this long, and inevitably the writers start to write for the actor as well as the character that plays them."

6.32pmAudience member steals Hall's namecard. Music episode? Hall: "Maybe. I always thought in the final season it would be fun two do 12 different finales. 12 different versions of how it would end."

6.31pmBuck: "We have the rights to the first two books, so we have specifically avoided reading others."

6.30pmWhat are their favourite things the actors have brought to the characters from the novels? West: "It's surprising. Our actors bring a lot of joy. There's a moment where Dexter grabs Trinity, but every time they yelled cut, Michael and john would laugh. It was the craziest Thanksgiving dinner ever."

6.29pmStrahovski: "I've never been a guest on a television show, so I'm very excited to be a part of such a great show. Everyone has been very lovely and welcoming."

6.28pmAudience Q&As. If the characters from S7 could advise their characters from S1, what would it be? Hall: "Don't make any friends."

6.28pmBuck: "We very much knew we were going there, and it felt time to start telling that story. It's the opposite of pegging us into a corner, it very much opens us up to new stories."

6.26pmDoes Deb know what's going on now? Carpenter: "No. She is taking one step at a time. She takes one step forward and is sent ten steps back. She keeps charging on. It's important to start off a job with a secret that you don't share with your cast members. There was certainly a fascination that Deb had with Dexter, so it didn't feel it was so bizarre to play that last season. It maybe makes for some allowances this year, although maybe him stabbing someone trumps those thoughts."

6.25pmStrahovski on her character: "I play Hannah McKay, she's a woman of mystery with a dark past. She meets Dexter and helps him with an investigation.. an old murder mystery, I guess."

6.25pmDoes Dexter think she's going to buy that story? Hall: "He hopes so. In that moment."

6.25pmCast and execs come out to much cheers.

6.24pmDexter says he "didn't think even think" about wrapping him up. "I'm a forensics expert, it's second nature to not even leave a trace. Who are you calling?" Deb: "The station. I've got to get everyone down." END TRAILER. WOW.

6.23pmHe's trying to explain it away. He says he came over to do forensics but Travis approached him with the sword. Dexter: "I snapped." Deb: "You snapped? What the fuck does that mean?" Dexter: "There's still a lot of anger in me since Rita died."

6.22pmA recap of S6 followed by footage from S7: Deb points a gun at Dexter. "Get the fuck away from the body." He says who it is, she asks "what the fuck?"

6.19pmDexter has now killed the hooker.

6.17pmIt's from NYE in 2000, and Dexter has picked up a hooker. Charming.

6.17pmNow a trailer for a third season of the Dexter webisodes, subtitled 'All in the Family'.

6.16pmTrailer for the new Dexter game, which includes Dexter's original VO from the pilot. You know, the one where he neatly justifies being a serial killer inside a few minutes.

6.15pmHaving emptied Claire Danes's womb, Gordon exits the stage and it's Dexter time!

6.14pmWill Claire's pregnancy be incorporated into the show? "Not yet necessarily. She will be unpregnant. So no."

6.13pmAudience questions. Building Carrie back up in season two? "It's not just something where you get an operation and you're no longer bipolar, so that threat is always there."

6.12pmIs it tiring to film? "You burn a lot of calories. I remember Claire's face at the wrap party! She said 'I need a break'. Now she's pregnant, so she didn't take too long a rest."

6.11pmChallenges of filming in Israel: "It was a real cultural experience. It did get challenging in certain locations - people weren't that happy that we were there. It's charged. You absolutely feel the atmosphere is charged. That tension definitely translates into some of the film we shot."

6.10pmGordon on people's reaction - and the government's: "The highest compliment we had was when we found out was one of our biggest fans was the President himself. That didn't suck. And our friends in the military and intelligence services have told us [they like it]."

6.09pmTrailer for season two, which will no doubt be up on YouTube for everyone shortly.

6.08pmGordon on S2: "We kind of painted ourselves into a corner. The first two episodes take place in Beiruit. We shot it in Israel, which was a nice exotic location."

6.07pmHoward Gordon, 24 ledge and exec producer on Homeland, comes out and takes a picture of the audience to send to the other exec, who couldn't be bothered to make the trip out. Part-timer.

6.06pmRalph is giving a more convoluted explanation of the social media wankery than his predecessor. Get on with it Ralph.

6.04pmThe moderator for the panel is LA radio host Ralph Garman, who promises us a sneak peek at Homeland season two as part of this panel.

6.03pmSpare a thought for my old DS colleague Morgan Jeffery, who has been queuing since 7am to get to this panel. I wonder what his Tamagotchi levels are.

6.02pmWe were given a gift ticket at the Beauty and the Beast panel earlier, but don't know what it is yet. Any guesses?

2.00pmToilet levels at about 70%, hunger levels at 60% and fatigue levels at a modest 30%. I am a Tamagotchi.

5.59pmOn the panel today we'll have Hall, Carpenter and Yvonne Strahovski (Hanna), as well as exec producers John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, and Manny Coto.

5.57pmAnyway, on to Dexter. That twist at the end of last season really was great, wasn't it? If you want to refamiliarise yourself, watch this (no doubt illegally-uploaded) clip below:

5.56pmIf you missed my panel for new Sherlock series Elementary just now, by the way, then click here to claim your reward.

5.55pmJust five minutes or thereabouts until we get underway in a packed Ballroom 20. I'm in need of a restroom now so I'll make sure to keep you all updated on that progresses too.